La Mercy resident’s crucial World Cup job

As the world glued their eyes to the screen last year to watch the best footballers do battle in Qatar, La Mercy’s Lavine Chinsamy was in charge of keeping some of them safe.

Chinsamy was the operations manager for the USA team at the 2022 World Cup, responsible for coordinating the team’s security with local and American authorities.

A man of many talents, Chinsamy has a background in software engineering and police intelligence, but also owns the My Food Joint restaurant in Tongaat after moving to the North Coast from Johannesburg in 2015.

It was while working for MTN during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa that he first got a taste for the event.

“I was one of thousands of volunteers working at the tournament and saw firsthand how it became an advertisement for our country with all the tourists arriving.

“Although I am not a huge football fan, I fell in love with the World Cup,” said Chinsamy.

With his skill set, Chinsamy was a perfect candidate for the Qatar World Cup and he became one of six South Africans that took charge of security for the 32 teams.

“We all arrived in September to become acquainted with the country as well as meeting the teams we were to work with. I managed a team of 89, mostly made up of police and army personnel from around the world,” he said.

Chinsamy’s role was to manage player and team safety, ensuring all hotels, bus trips, training sessions and games had relevant security measures in place.

https://www.citizen.co.za/north-coast-courier/157288/rolling-in-a-1948-chevy-fleetline-tongaat-restaurant-owner-keeps-the-past-alive/

It was also important to liaise with international media to organise access, a particularly important job given the size of America’s news establishment.

The American team made it to the round of 16, which meant Chinsamy was with them for around a month in total, in which time he met and interacted with all of the players, including star winger Christian Pulisic.

After they were knocked out, he took over operations for the Morocco team who were flying high in the quarter-finals.

“You could feel the energy in the camp, even more so after they beat Portugal to make it to the semis.”

But it was not to be for the north Africans after losing to France in their next game and Chinsamy could finally rest after almost three months of hectic work.

It gave him a chance to explore more of the country, which he describes as beautiful and welcoming, if admittedly extremely hot.

Although the Americans probably have enough security personnel for 20 World Cups, Chinsamy hopes he will get the chance to work at the next event, hosted between the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026.

Follow The North Coast Courier on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube for breaking news

Telegram Broadcast Service: https://t.me/joinchat/yJULuN8NaCs5OGM0

WhatsApp Broadcast Service: Add The Courier to WhatsApp at 082 792 9405 and WhatsApp your name and surname to be added.